NASA Co-Designs Perfume That Captures What Outer Space Really Smells Like
Image via Eau de Space
It’s still a little premature for commercial travel in space, but habitants of Earth already have a semblance of how it looks—and now smells.
Back in 2008, NASA enlisted Steve Pearce, chemist and founder of Omega Ingredients, to mimic odors of outer space for astronaut training, CNN reported. It took four years to recreate the otherworldly scent, and since then, it’s been used to prepare would-be astronauts for future expeditions.
But the untrained space enthusiast need no longer struggle with the FOMO—the fragrance is now available in bottled form under the name, Eau de Space.
The only thing holding creators of Eau de Space back from launching it across Earth was a limitation in resources, though this turned out to be an amazingly easy problem to settle. Eau de Space product manager Matt Richmond created a Kickstarter campaign to mass-produce the perfume, and luckily but not surprisingly, the company’s goal of amassing a mere US$1,969 has already eclipsed.
At the time of publishing, it has a solid backing of US$57,395, with 47 days to go before the crowdfunding campaign is expected to expire.
You’ve come this far, and are probably aching to find out what space actually smells like. Richmond explained that while the fragrance is hard to place—mind you, it took researchers four years to come up with a successful formula—he cited astronauts’ descriptive concoction of “gunpowder, seared steak, raspberries, and rum.” So if you love smoky scents with sweet notes, Eau de Space might be the stellar perfume you’ve been looking for.
As well as making the fragrance accessible to the public, the brand hopes that Eau de Space will cultivate an interest in STEM among young potentials.
[via Allure, video and cover image via Eau de Space]
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